In the 17th century, the area where now Toronto is was taken by indigenous people, who opened trade with the French. Subsequently they established trading posts in Toronto in the 18th century. Toronto passed to British control in 1763, and the creation of an urban community began 30 years later when colonial officials built Fort York and laid out a town site. That community, 'York,' became the capital of the province of Upper Canada (now Ontario). In 1834, the city had 9,250 residents, but the population continued to expand: when Canada became a country in 1867, the city was home to 50,000 souls. By 1901, 208,000 people lived here. Today, with well over two million people, Toronto is Canada's largest city, the heart of the nation's commercial, financial, industrial, and cultural life, and is one of the world's most liveable urban centres.
ATTRACTIONS
One of the most important tourist attractions of Toronto is the PATH, that is downtown Toronto's underground walkway linking 28 kilometres of shopping, services and entertainment. PATH provides an important contribution to the economic viability of the city's downtown core. The system facilitates pedestrian linkages to public transit, accommodating more than 100,000 daily commuters, and thousands of additional tourists and residents on route to sports and cultural events.Its underground location provides pedestrians with a safe haven from the winter cold and snow, and the summer heat. This important structure holds an important record: according to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex with 28 km (17 miles) of shopping arcades.
Then in the PATH there are more than 125 grade level access points and 60 decision points where a pedestrian has to decide between turning left or right, or continuing straight on. It’s incredible!
In this city there are also a lot of beautiful museums; the most important of these is Fort York National Historic Site. This is an old military fort and it served as the city's primary harbour defence between the 1790s and the 1880s, and was the home of a military garrison until the 1930s. Today, its defensive walls enclose Canada's largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings. Another thing you must see if you go to Toronto is the Rogers Centre (formerly known as SkyDome). It is a multi-purpose stadium, in Downtown, opened in 1989. It can accommodate 45,000 people during a sport event and between 10,000 and 55,000 people during a concert. Its peculiarity is the retractable roof; it opens or closes in 20 minutes, and it rises to a height of 86 meters (282 feet), high enough for a 31 storey building to stand at centre field with the roof closed. All the roof weighs 11,000 tons!
But the most important monument of the city is surely the C.N. Tower (Canadian National Tower), one of the tallest buildings in the world. The most followed sport of the city is hockey and the most powerful team of the city are the Toronto Maple Leafs. There is also an important basketball team who take part in the NBA: its name is Toronto Raptors.
The city was founded on 17th May 1642 and at that time its name was Villle-Marie. The territory where Montreal is remained a French colony until 1760, when it surrendered to Great Britain after their victory in the Seven Years War. The war had ended, but the clash of Anglo and Francophone cultures was destined to shape the dynamics of the city for the next two hundred years. Political discontent made peace elusive for Montreal. Americans attempted to take advantage of unrest in the city in 1774. In the hope of expanding their thirteen colonies, members of the First Continental Congress of Philadelphia invited the people of Quebec to send delegates to their forthcoming session. Although the invitation was not accepted, General Montgomery led American troops into Montreal in November 1775. They occupied the city for seven months, fleeing after a defeat in Quebec City when a powerful British fleet sailed up the St Lawrence. The War of 1812 brought another military invasion by the young republic to the south. Prosperity reigned under British rule. Scottish and British traders reorganized the fur trade and triggered phenomenal growth and in 1832 Montreal was incorporated as a city. The early twentieth century was a period of prosperity and expansion for Montrealers, but the arrival of the Great War brought tensions to the surface, whereas the period directly after the war restored prosperity. Between the wars, Montreal gained a reputation as a second Paris. Prohibition in the United States and much of Canada was defied in Quebec. Montreal was host to great numbers of American tourists, lured by its fun-loving lifestyle. The liquor trade boomed and so did renowned nightlife, but the fun was decidedly dampened by the advent of the Depression. World War II brought the hardships of shortages and rationing to Montreal, and again the issue of conscription raised protests from French Canadians, who were in turn criticised by English Canada. Today, Montreal, the second largest French-speaking city in the world, is truly the heart of the province of Quebec. http://www.best-of-montreal.com/history/
ATTRACTIONS
Montreal’s underground city is one of the largest underground complexes in the world; its name is RÉSO.
Not all portions of the indoor city (ville intérieure) are underground. The connections are considered tunnels architecturally and technically, but they are air conditioned and have lighting as good as any building liveable space does. Many tunnels are large enough to have shops on both sides of the passage. With over 32 km (20 mi) of tunnels spread over more than 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi), connected areas include shopping malls, apartment buildings, hotels, condominiums, banks, offices, museums, universities, seven metro stations, two commuter train stations, a regional bus terminal and the Bell Centre amphitheatre and arena.
Montreal’s RÉSO and Toronto’s PATH are competing for the title of biggest underground structure in the world.
Another important attraction of Montreal is its casino¸ which is one of the largest casinos in the world.
In the old part of the city there are a lot of interesting monuments like the Saint Joseph's Oratory, which is the biggest church of Canada or the Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica.
Ottawa is the capital of Canada. This isn’t a big city, since it has only 883,000 inhabitants, but according to a lot of opinion polls the quality of life here is one of the best in the world. It is also rated the second cleanest city in Canada, and third cleanest city in the world. The first settlement in the place where Ottawa now is was created on March 7, 1800, on the north side of the river Ottawa; at that time the name of the city was Bytown (renamed Ottawa in 1855). The city became the capital of the country on December 31, 1857, following a decision of Queen Victoria.
Vancouver is a big Canadian city which rises on the Pacific coast of British Columbia; the city takes its name from captain George Vancouver, the explorer of the area where the city is now. In 2010 the city played host to the Olympic Games. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada, with 52% of its inhabitants whose first language is not English.
The city was born in 1861, when 25,000 people coming mainly from California reached the Vancouver zone because of the Gold Rush. In 1900 Vancouver had 20,000 inhabitants, and in 1911 already 100,000. Originally, the most important economic activities of the city were the export of wood, but now the advanced industry is dominant. Very important is also the port, which is the most important of the North-American Pacific coast.
In Vancouver there is the biggest Chinatown district of Canada, but the most important attraction of this city is the beauty of the natural sceneries around the city: in British Columbia there are wonderful fjords, enormous coniferous forests and the awesome Rocky Mountains.
Toronto
HISTORY
In the 17th century, the area where now Toronto is was taken by indigenous people, who opened trade with the French. Subsequently they established trading posts in Toronto in the 18th century. Toronto passed to British control in 1763, and the creation of an urban community began 30 years later when colonial officials built Fort York and laid out a town site. That community, 'York,' became the capital of the province of Upper Canada (now Ontario). In 1834, the city had 9,250 residents, but the population continued to expand: when Canada became a country in 1867, the city was home to 50,000 souls. By 1901, 208,000 people lived here. Today, with well over two million people, Toronto is Canada's largest city, the heart of the nation's commercial, financial, industrial, and cultural life, and is one of the world's most liveable urban centres.ATTRACTIONS
One of the most important tourist attractions of Toronto is the PATH, that is downtown Toronto's underground walkway linking 28 kilometres of shopping, services and entertainment. PATH provides an important contribution to the economic viability of the city's downtown core. The system facilitates pedestrian linkages to public transit, accommodating more than 100,000 daily commuters, and thousands of additional tourists and residents on route to sports and cultural events.Its underground location provides pedestrians with a safe haven from the winter cold and snow, and the summer heat. This important structure holds an important record: according to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex with 28 km (17 miles) of shopping arcades.Then in the PATH there are more than 125 grade level access points and 60 decision points where a pedestrian has to decide between turning left or right, or continuing straight on. It’s incredible!
In this city there are also a lot of beautiful museums; the most important of these is Fort York National Historic Site. This is an old military fort and it served as the city's primary harbour defence between the 1790s and the 1880s, and was the home of a military garrison until the 1930s. Today, its defensive walls enclose Canada's largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings. Another thing you must see if you go to Toronto is the Rogers Centre (formerly known as SkyDome). It is a multi-purpose stadium, in Downtown, opened in 1989. It can accommodate 45,000 people during a sport event and between 10,000 and 55,000 people during a concert. Its peculiarity is the retractable roof; it opens or closes in 20 minutes, and it rises to a height of 86 meters (282 feet), high enough for a 31 storey building to stand at centre field with the roof closed. All the roof weighs 11,000 tons!
But the most important monument of the city is surely the C.N. Tower (Canadian National Tower), one of the tallest buildings in the world. The most followed sport of the city is hockey and the most powerful team of the city are the Toronto Maple Leafs. There is also an important basketball team who take part in the NBA: its name is Toronto Raptors.
Adapted from: http://www.toronto.ca
http://www.rogerscentre.com
Montreal
HISTORY
The city was founded on 17th May 1642 and at that time its name was Villle-Marie. The territory where Montreal is remained a French colony until 1760, when it surrendered to Great Britain after their victory in the Seven Years War. The war had ended, but the clash of Anglo and Francophone cultures was destined to shape the dynamics of the city for the next two hundred years. Political discontent made peace elusive for Montreal. Americans attempted to take advantage of unrest in the city in 1774. In the hope of expanding their thirteen colonies, members of the First Continental Congress of Philadelphia invited the people of Quebec to send delegates to their forthcoming session. Although the invitation was not accepted, General Montgomery led American troops into Montreal in November 1775. They occupied the city for seven months, fleeing after a defeat in Quebec City when a powerful British fleet sailed up the St Lawrence. The War of 1812 brought another military invasion by the young republic to the south. Prosperity reigned under British rule. Scottish and British traders reorganized the fur trade and triggered phenomenal growth and in 1832 Montreal was incorporated as a city. The early twentieth century was a period of prosperity and expansion for Montrealers, but the arrival of the Great War brought tensions to the surface, whereas the period directly after the war restored prosperity. Between the wars, Montreal gained a reputation as a second Paris. Prohibition in the United States and much of Canada was defied in Quebec. Montreal was host to great numbers of American tourists, lured by its fun-loving lifestyle. The liquor trade boomed and so did renowned nightlife, but the fun was decidedly dampened by the advent of the Depression. World War II brought the hardships of shortages and rationing to Montreal, and again the issue of conscription raised protests from French Canadians, who were in turn criticised by English Canada. Today, Montreal, the second largest French-speaking city in the world, is truly the heart of the province of Quebec.
http://www.best-of-montreal.com/history/
ATTRACTIONS
Montreal’s underground city is one of the largest underground complexes in the world; its name is RÉSO.
Not all portions of the indoor city (ville intérieure) are underground. The connections are considered tunnels architecturally and technically, but they are air conditioned and have lighting as good as any building liveable space does. Many tunnels are large enough to have shops on both sides of the passage. With over 32 km (20 mi) of tunnels spread over more than 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi), connected areas include shopping malls, apartment buildings, hotels, condominiums, banks, offices, museums, universities, seven metro stations, two commuter train stations, a regional bus terminal and the Bell Centre amphitheatre and arena.
Montreal’s RÉSO and Toronto’s PATH are competing for the title of biggest underground structure in the world.
Another important attraction of Montreal is its casino¸ which is one of the largest casinos in the world.
In the old part of the city there are a lot of interesting monuments like the Saint Joseph's Oratory, which is the biggest church of Canada or the Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica.
Adapted from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal
OTTAWA
Ottawa is the capital of Canada. This isn’t a big city, since it has only 883,000 inhabitants, but according to a lot of opinion polls the quality of life here is one of the best in the world. It is also rated the second cleanest city in Canada, and third cleanest city in the world. The first settlement in the place where Ottawa now is was created on March 7, 1800, on the north side of the river Ottawa; at that time the name of the city was Bytown (renamed Ottawa in 1855). The city became the capital of the country on December 31, 1857, following a decision of Queen Victoria.
Adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa
VANCOUVER
Vancouver is a big Canadian city which rises on the Pacific coast of British Columbia; the city takes its name from captain George Vancouver, the explorer of the area where the city is now. In 2010 the city played host to the Olympic Games. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada, with 52% of its inhabitants whose first language is not English.The city was born in 1861, when 25,000 people coming mainly from California reached the Vancouver zone because of the Gold Rush. In 1900 Vancouver had 20,000 inhabitants, and in 1911 already 100,000. Originally, the most important economic activities of the city were the export of wood, but now the advanced industry is dominant. Very important is also the port, which is the most important of the North-American Pacific coast.
In Vancouver there is the biggest Chinatown district of Canada, but the most important attraction of this city is the beauty of the natural sceneries around the city: in British Columbia there are wonderful fjords, enormous coniferous forests and the awesome Rocky Mountains.
Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver
Canada-home page
Now try to do some exercises about this topic.
Click here.